Sandalwood and Spilled Tea is How We Meet
by seastoneE
Summary: Meeting over an accident at the Air and space museum in DC, Elizabeth thought nothing more would come of her chance encounter with the man whose voice smells of sandalwood, but then he called her, and she found a new friend in Dr. Spencer Reid. Spencer is not entirely sure why he called the receptionist at a museum, but he's glad he did. *EXTREMELY SLOW BURN* Starts in season 1
1. Sandalwood and some spilled tea

The first time she meets him, she thought nothing of it. It was a Friday, she was over working as a receptionist after she finished her archiving in the National Air Space Museum of the Smithsonian. It was September, they had extended hours, so she remembers being tired, even though it was only 7pm. She was finishing up a paper she was writing, no one was at the museum on a Friday during the school year except an elderly couple admiring one of the older model planes and him. He was staring at a blueprint for one of NASA Apollos. The reason he caught her notice was when he walked past her, she heard him mutter loudly something, the smell instantly hit her of sandalwood. Her associations were usually never that powerful and didn't typically happen suddenly. It hit her so hard and so quickly, she jumped. She then proceeded to fall, knocking over her mug of hot tea onto herself.

"aww…. Damn it! Ouch."

Shaking her hand, she looked down to her ruined skirt, why did she ever think it was ever safe to wear white? Something always happened when she wore white.

"Are you okay?" The man knelt down. His voice, now loud and clear brought another flash of a smell, stronger this time of sandalwood and old books with a hint of graphite along with something she couldn't place. "Umm... do you need help?" The man asked again. She felt like she wanted to die from embarrassment. Avoiding his eye contact, she looked for her box of Kleenex.

"Yeah, uhh sorry, it just I never had such a strong association like that." She found the Kleenex and started dabbing her skirt.

"Association… you have synesthesia?" She looked up from her nervous dabbling, eyes wide through her glasses, the smell from hearing his voice hit her again, but not as violent.

"You know about it?"

"Yeah I read about it in an article." He smiled as he helped her up

"It's predominantly a female condition, a 3:1 ratio compared to the male population, typically in left handed, 1 in 2000 people have the condition. There is some evidence to suggest that the condition helps with memorization." He smiled widen as he gazed up past her as if he was reading the article right there.

"You have an eidetic memory." She looked up at him, tilting her head.

"Yeah, IQ 187, I can read 20,000 words a minute, Dr. Spencer Reid, 23." He set back his shoulders and tried to stand taller, even when he already was a foot taller than her. She smiled. She could play this game.

"Interesting introduction, I'm Dr. Elizabeth Stocker, 18,000 words a minute, never bothered taking an IQ test, 22." She offered her hand out to shake.

"Sorry, I don't really like physical contact."

"Oh..." Her smile dropped for a quick second as she moved her hand to the back of her head. "hehehe, sorry."

An awkward silence began.

"Soo… what was the association, if you don't mind me asking"

"umm, it was your voice, it smells like sandalwood, old books, and a hint of…" She stopped and smiled up at him "something else"

"What?"

"A little mystery never hurt anybody."

He pursed his lips. She laughed, he looked sort of like a pouting dog.

"So, Dr. Reid, what are you a doctor in?"

"Mathematics, chemistry and Engineering, along with undergraduates with psychology and sociology working on my philosophy, and you Dr. Stocker?"

"Doctorate in Astronomy and Child psychology, undergraduates in English literature and French, working on my undergraduate in Art history."

"Impressive record, Dr. Stocker." He said with a smile. He looked awkward, like he wasn't entirely sure how he should continue.

"I wouldn't say you're too bad yourself, where'd you go?" As she smoothed out her skirt. she looked down, assessing the damage. She could argue that this was how the skirt came as. It looked like an ugly skirt, but she could make an argument.

"MIT and Caltech, you?"

"University of Chicago and Detroit Mercy." He's eyebrows shot up about the last one.

"Detroit Mercy? Why did you go there? you would get a lot better education at even University of Michigan?" Even though the language was a bit harsh, she smiled gently though.

"My family lives in the area, and it was easier for them having me closer in the first couple years, I don't think they wanted me to go far when I was only 13."

Then through the announcement system came the 5-minute warning of closing time.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Dr. Reid, but I've got to help close up so…"

"Ah, yes, sorry to bother you Dr. Stocker." He turned to leave, and in any normal circumstance, that would've been it. But something spurred her on, something just felt like it shouldn't just be left like this.

"umm…. Wait!" Dr. Reid turned to look back. She frantically looked around, the only thing she had was her Kleenex. She thought Fuck it, pulled out one of the pens and quickly jotted down her number and initials. E.S

"Here. If you ever want to… talk." She handed him the Kleenex. He looked down.

"Thanks." He looked awkward taking it, and She was already knocking herself for being so stupid, he doesn't want to talk to the receptionist from a museum. He turned to leave again and was almost out the door

"Your welcome." What was she saying, why would she say your welcome? She was sounding like the stupidest doctor ever. He turned, smiled gently and nodded. That's where she thought it would end.

Three Weeks later

 _"Hey, It's Dr. Reid, they guy who sounds like sandalwood and old books, umm… I was calling you because I, uhh... if we could talk -BEEP"_

 _"Uhh hey, It Reid again, just wanted to apologize about the first message I tend to ramble, I do it at the office a lot, sometimes it's helpful in the sometimes I just annoy people, oh by the way I'm a profiler with the FBI uhh… anyway call me back, if you want."_

 _"Hello Dr. Reid, it's good to hear you again! I heard both your messages and I would lov- I mean I would enjoy talking to you. FBI agent? Sounds exciting! Here I am doing restoration and curator work with occasional counseling. Do you carry a gun? Are you a field agent? I'm sure your wonderful at it… anyway call me back when you can!"_


	2. Stories and Drinks

"Okay but how did you know that he wouldn't shoot before you?" They sat in a library both reading in two comfy chairs, noses buried in books, pages flipping quickly. They had been hanging out periodically. It was nice to have someone to talk to, especially when they weren't constantly questioning you about your age, knowledge, or what she smells or sees. For him, Elizabeth suspected the reason he called her was less about talking and more companionship, wanting to just escape academia and work for a bit. For her, it was nice to have a constant in her life, it made her think that she could stay at a job for longer than a month, but then she thought how boring that would be.

"I didn't, but if the SWAT came in there would be more casualties." He replied flipping the page quickly.

"So, you let your boss beat you, so you could get the gun?" Her eyes glanced up and quickly went back to the words and colors.

"Well I wouldn't say let, I just followed his plan, and he kicked like a nine-year-old girl."

"Ouch, that's gotta hurt, I accidentally broke my oldest brother's rib when I was nine." She said with a smile as she flipped a page.

"What?" Reid looked up from the book to stare at his companion.

"Yeah, when we were playing soccer, my brother fell down from slipping over the ball, I was already going in to kick it so bam." She turned to the next page. "Hospital trip and weeks of having to explain to your friends and classmates that your nine-year-old sister broke your rib." She smiled as she closed her copy of _Harry Potter and the philosopher's stone_. Looking over at her complain she meet his stare _._ "And finished." Dr. Reid's eyes widen as he realized what she just did.

"That's no fair! You know I'm faster than you, so you distracted me!"

"Shh!" The elderly librarian glared at them from afar, in response they just giggled.

"You know I don't think I have ever been sushed in a library before." Reid said as he smiled as he relished in his small act of rebellion. That is until he realized what happen again.

"You still cheated!"

"The goal was to finish the book, there was no rules on how you got there" She smirked devilishly. "So, you owe me some tea, Dr. Reid."

"You know I would've beat you."

"Deals a deal so pay up Gambling man." She gave him that nickname as soon as she learned he was from Las Vegas, it fitted his competitive nature.

"Yeah yeah, let's get going, I want some coffee."

"You mean you want some sugar and coffee on the side." Reid stretched his legs, even in the comfy chairs of the library, he was taller than average. Elizabeth looked down at her own legs, she was barely taller than 5 feet. When she stood up with him, she barely hit his chest. _We wouldn't look good together_ she thought. And as soon as she thought that she threw it out of mind. They've only known each other for 4 months, 3 of which with them interacting. They were friends, one of her first outside her family and she wasn't going to ruin that for flights of fancy. "Don't you want to finish it?"

"Sure, give me a sec." Reid flipped through the last pages and finished within a few minutes.

"I think you're getting rusty, you took a lot longer than a second." She looked at him with a smile tugging at her lips.

"I'm not, you just counted wrong."

"Oh, so now the person with the astronomy degree can't count"

"I think I have advantage here, I have the mathematics doctorate."

"Come on, let's go get drinks."

"You mean I go get drinks and you just follow me, leeching off me."

"That's a strong word there, leeching, huh." Her eye glazed for a second as she imagined the letter and then the colors, red and blue lines, more wine colored and ocean grey blue.

"What's the color?" Reid looked down at her.

"Wine and ocean lines bleeding into each other."

"what was the book?"

"Oh, it was so beautiful, it was so bright, the colors and words flowed right off the page, I love books about magic, and J.K Rowling knows how to use words." Elizabeth vocalized with her hands as her eyes sparkled. Reid looked down entranced, he started to say;

"Hey, would it be okay if we used- "

RING RING RING, they both looked down at his phone and then at each other. Reid answered.

"Hello? Hotch? Yeah I'll be there in an hour." He hung up and looked at her, apologies written on his face.

"Go on, Gambling man, go save some lives, just remember your debts you owe."

"Thanks, I'll call you when we're done!" and he took off out the library, earning another glare from the librarian. She shook her head with a smile, he loved that job more than himself. It was nice to find someone she could relate to, and she hoped that he felt the same.

Two weeks later

 _"Hey, its Spen- Dr. Reid... um I just, I'm sorry I haven't been able to call you recently we've been swamped with cases. we're flying back soon, and I just really need a… friend, so I hope you get this, bye"_

* * *

 _Hello readers! Now for the next couple day there is going to be regular updates throughout the day. Eventually the chapters will become weekly. I plan on covering season 1 and 2 in this story, though it may continue longer than that depending how it turns out. Thank you!_


	3. The Happy and Sad Truths We Have

They meet up in the corner of the library where they always do. It was almost 5 when Elizabeth got there, she was finishing up a commission for an art piece when he called at 3. Dr. Reid was already there, sitting in the big comfy chairs, tapping his foot nervously, looking side to side.

"Hey, I came as soon as possible, what's up?" His body went still, and his face turned to look at her's, he seemed relieved for a second, then the tapping started up again along with a crazed happy looking smile formed on his face. Elizabeth smiled gently in return, but worry and concern was bubbling up inside her. He seemed a little worse for wear, sweat stains and dirt on his typically pristine clothes.

"Hey! I'm glad you came, I wasn't sure you be able to, we just got back from Texas, it was so hot, I hope I don't smell too bad, anyway I wanted to just see you and say hi, well that and tell you want happen, opps! Sorry I'm rambling, it doesn't help that I'm still high on dopamine and other fight or fight chemicals pumping in my brain right now, it didn't hit me at first that I saved lives while risking my own but then I just kept thinkin- "

"STOP!" She yelled. Then she remembered she was in a library

"Shhhh!" The old librarian held a finger to her lips, glaring with an intensity that if she wasn't so worried about her friend, she might have been worried for her own life.

"Now, we are going to take some deep breaths, follow me, in" She took a deep breath. "Out." Doing that for a couple times she saw his eyes and body relax as he calmed down.

"Now, tell me what happen." She said as she took her seat across from him.

"Do you know about John Nash?"

"No, should I?" She tried to go through all the serial killers she knew, but unlike Dr. Reid, this wasn't her area of expertise.

"John Nash was a mental patient who believed was being recruited by aliens to save the world."

"Okay, I think I remember one of my brother's talking about a movie about him."

"The movie was rather inaccurate, anyway we had a similar situation here, one of my coworkers, Elle, was taken hostage with others on a train and we had to convince this man to let them go. He was under the delusion that the government was all around him and he had a chip in his arm."

Elizabeth loved it when he told stories about work and his adventures. She worried about him, but she knew he wouldn't stop risking his life, in the months that she knew him, he loved his job more than anything. So, when he started to tell her about his day, she embraced it. He didn't do it often, and she felt it was special when he did. Plus, when the scent of sandalwood, old books, graphite and the one thing she couldn't place washed over her, comforting her. It was so easy to just listen to him.

"Then, I told him 'I can't turn it on, the chip derives its power from tiny electrical impulses fired between neurons, it has to be in your skin to work.' I thought of that on the spot! It just came to me." Spencer pause, admiring his own brilliance, then turned back to her.

"Anyway, he shot his doctor soon after, but she made it to the ambulance." He turned solemn at the mention of the violence he observed. "I talked him down, played into his fantasy and got him to let his guard down. Elle and I attacked him, and it turned out one of the passengers had a gun, so he shot him. The hostages and I made it out safe, the doctor and he made it to the hospital."

"So why did you seem so sad on the phone?" She asked.

"I wasn't sad per say but, have you ever had experience with people with mental conditions?"

"Why?" She asked. curious at the sudden change in tone and topic.

"Never mind, I was just wondering." Dr. Reid seemed to shut down suddenly. He turned his head away. She had to say something. sighing, repositioning herself to sit properly, facing him directly.

"My father was a marine." She stated. "He loved it and his comrades, says those were the days, where he was taking names and fighting commies in Vietnam." She started playing with her hands. She was never typically this awkward telling people this, but this was her friend, she didn't want him to have a bad impression of her father.

"He joined when he was 21, says it was the best and worst decision he ever made, because five years later, he was on a plane coming back, except he was coming back with a little more baggage and one less limb." Looking up, she saw Dr. Reid staring at her. She searched his eyes, all she saw was shock.

"My father suffered depression, PTSD and alcoholism. He always needed coffee in the morning, and when my mom wasn't looking he would slip vodka in it. He never tried to kill himself, but he would have days where he would just sit and stare out the window. He had episodes, when I was little, if it rained to loudly or was too foggy he would get jittery and couldn't stand anywhere where he couldn't see all the doors and windows."

"Hypervigilance."

She nodded. "When leg prosthetics started to have leaps in technology, he started to make a recovery, he could walk better, do things, help pay more bills." Looking her friend in the eye, she searched for any hint of judgement, she found none, only…hesitation? Then he dropped a bombshell.

"My mom has schizophrenia." Spencer said solemnly, turning to stare at the ground. Elizabeth eyes widened. "She was an amazing mom, but I guess all parents have their issues." Looking sideways at her he added, "And it can be passed on genetically, as I am sure you know, so I understand if you would like to see me less, I might not be all here in 6 years." Dr. Reid didn't look at her.

"Spencer…" His head shot up. They hadn't called each other by their first names before. This was a big deal to Spencer, he really thought she would stop being his friend just because of the unknown future? _Well, can't have that._ Thought Elizabeth. "I am your friend, and that means I'm here for you, until the bitter end, and maybe when I need help, you'll be there for me." Spencer seemed lost for words, not knowing what to say, he just nodded. Elizabeth got up, he needed to stop thinking about the terrible stuff for a while. "Now come on, let's do another reading contest, how about..." strolling through the bookshelves she stopped at one. "How about Le morte d'Arthur? Here, I'll make it fair by reading mine in French, how about that?" Spencer finally smiled.

"Pfft, the only reason you won last time was because you cheated!"

"You still on about that?"

"Shh!"

One week later

 _"Hey, it's Spencer, I wanted to call and ask if it was okay if I came over? I'm just having some… trouble and was wondering if it would be so much to ask if, well if you wanted to just hang out? Is that the right term? Anyway, call me when you can."_

* * *

 _Hello! Sorry about the short chapter, but I should be posting two or three more today or tomorrow, depending on how fast i edit. I intend to focus chapter after that with more characterization of Elizabeth as I know these first couple have been more focused on Spencer. Who knows? You may have a Spencer pov chapter in the future ) Feedback is always welcome, any reviews, this chapter probably wouldn't have happen if a reviewer didn't mention it! Thank you for reading!_


	4. Sleepovers and Snacks

As soon as she heard the voicemail, she called back. She knew she wouldn't always be able to drop everything she was doing for her friend, but for now, she was going to try to be there, especially after he told her about his mom. He didn't call back till two hours later he finally picked up.

"You okay, why weren't you picking up?"

"Yeah, I turned it off… um… one sec." she heard some rustling as he was moving.

"Hey, umm… is it okay if I come over tonight?" He whispered over the line.

"Hey what you whispering about out there?" A voice in the background yelled over the line.

"Yeah, you can come over, if you want you can crash here, I have a couch I can crash on, you can use my bed."

"Thanks, but I should be fine, just need a break I think. I'll be over in 2 hours, I need to finish some work." So, she waited, she went about her apartment, pacing. She made and remade her bed. Put blankets and pillows on the couch. She made hot chocolate and had to microwave it three times because it kept getting cold. She put in the tiny marshmallows in one. She knew he liked them. And paced more.

"It's just a friend, he just wants to talk, he may end up crashing here. He probably just does not want to be alone at night. This has nothing to do with you so why are you so stressed?" Probably because she never really had a close friend. Being a child prodigy and moving jobs constantly will do that. She put on some jazz, but mixed in the wood and tobacco smell was sandalwood for the first time that gave her no peace of mind. She put on some rock, it started to help her escape, until she started smelling notes of sandalwood.  
"What the fuck? Rock is always sugar, sweat and hints of smoke! Eurgh!" Flopping fce first on the couch. She laid there for a minute. Then got up and paced more. Maybe classical music would help? Sweet notes of Vanilla, honeysuckle, and white tea floated in the air. She started to relax finally. Then a knock came, Elizabeth jumped, her heart going into her throat. Catching her breath, she turned off the music and went to the door and opened it, letting him come in.

"Hey Spencer, come on in! If you need to sleepover, I can sleep on the couch, it fits me, I think you'll be too tall and…" Elizabeth nervously talked with her hands as she expected another voice to replace her rambling. When she turned around though, she saw he was still standing, halfway in her apartment half way out, She stopped. He looked way worse then what he sounded, staring off into space with dark shadows under his eyes. She knew something was wrong.

"What's wrong, what happened?" Rushing over she stopped short of touching him. She knew he didn't like physical touch but, to hell with what he wanted, he needed someone. She pulled him into a hug. They stood there for a second, Elizabeth conscious of Spencer aversion to touching others. Pulling back she looked up.

"You up for some hot chocolate? I got the tiny marshmallows you like." She offered a weak smile. That seemed to bring him down to earth a bit, as he actually seemed to realize where he was. He offered her a nod.

"come on, sit down on the sofa, I'll go get the coco." She guided him to the sofa and walked quickly to get her three times microwave hot chocolate.

"Here we go." Giving the chocolate to him seemed to start snapping him out of his stupor.

"What do you want to talk about?"

He breathed in deep and took a sip. Staring at his coco he started speaking;

"I have been swamped with paperwork, I can't wait to get out of the office, did you know that there are about 30 serial killers active in the USA? Have I told you about the difference between an organized killer and disorganized well-. "

"Spencer!" His face shot up. Eyes wide, Elizabeth almost sensed… fear. He was afraid she was going to throw him out. She was just afraid he might breakdown from lack of sleep and too much caffeine. She needed him to calm down and letting him talk about serial killers and their psychosis probably wasn't going to help. Maybe a short distraction would help him relax?

"So, what have you been eating." She knew it was entirely left field, but she couldn't think of anything else. He looked at her incredulously.

"What have I been eating? Umm, I had eggs for breakfast, coffee, a hot dog and I had a cinnamon roll."

"Just that for all of today?"

"For yesterday and today."

"Well, gambling man, we are going to have a proper- "She turned to look at the clock "10'o' clock dinner." Standing up she pulled Spencer's hand. "Come on, gambling man, you know how to cook right, or is that 187 IQ a lie?" That challenge seemed to really get him going.

"Of course I know how to cook."

"Well let's make a bet gambling man, if you can make a dinner better than me, we can watch _star trek_ , if I make a better dinner, we have a _Disney_ marathon, deal?" Spencer smiled, and brought up his hand.

"Shake on it?" Elizabeth stared at his him for a second, surprised at him due to his hatred for handshaking. In the seconds that she didn't respond, she saw Spencer start to drop his hand. Reacting on instinct, she quickly reached out and caught his hand. Smiling they shook on it.

"It's no fair, you didn't tell me your father was a cook." Elizabeth merrily shrugged as she ate her delicious grilled salmon and mushroom with baked zucchini and cucumbers. Spencer stared at his slightly burnt macaroni and cheese.

"Well, your macaroni and cheese is a close second."

"Can't I at least have some of your salmon, I'm really hungry." Elizabeth paused, putting her fork to her lips.

"hmm… I don't know, you didn't even say please…"

"Please Elizabeth, may I have some food."

"Geez, when you put it that way it's like I'm the one starving you and not yourself." She paused, considering the words she was going to say. "you promise to eat better?" Spencer replied by nodding vigorously. "Here." Cutting a sizable portion, she loaded a plate with some fish and vegetables. They eat in silence, probably because Spencer couldn't talk while he was hungrily eating. When he finished, she moved to clear the pans, and he went to throw out his burnt mac and cheese. "Now, what _Disney_ movie should we start with?"

"Uhh, _The little mermaid_? The book was good, I never saw the movie." Elizabeth's mouth dropped.

"You never seen _the little mermaid_ , what other _Disney_ classic haven't you seen?"

"I don't know, how many are there? I've seen _snow white_ , and _peter pan_."

"We are watching everything!" Elizabeth grabbed Spencer, dragging him to the sofa.

"Let's start with the classic _Little mermaid_ and then _Alice in wonderland_." Spencer continued eating, as Elizabeth set everything up.

"Okay, let's go!" As she threw herself on the other end of the sofa, sticking her legs under the blanket, she dramatically pressed the play button. They planned on watching five movies, then barely got through the first two before both were out, sleeping peacefully, on the opposite ends of the sofa.

* * *

 _Next chapter will be a lot longer and may featuring someone else's point of view... hmm... wonder who could it be? Should be going up tonight!_


	5. Shaking hands and Breakfast

Spencer was still not entirely sure why he originally called Elizabeth. He was never good with social interaction outside of work, he never thought he would get so far as to be able to make a friend. Elizabeth was odd. With all her degrees and knowledge, she could be a museum director or professor almost anywhere in the country, instead she takes random jobs as they come to her, working as a receptionist, an archivist, a curator, teacher, public speaker, heck, he remembers her mentioning she was working at a fast-food place for a month as a part-timer. It didn't make sense. Yet, he enjoyed her easy-going personality, it was nice to not be racing against time, trying to say everything he needed before the other person got bored and left or worse, the unsub killed again. She could talk and engage with him on a level that was very rare for him to be able to do with anyone, he still felt out of place and awkward talking with someone that he didn't need to, but he was improving.

So, when Spencer managed to find Elizabeth's apartment, through the sleep deprivation and hunger, he's surprised he didn't just end up going back to his apartment by accident instead. When he knocked, he honestly wasn't sure if she would answer, but she did. She was so animated and enthusiastic, he wanted to listen to what she was talking about, but he was having trouble focusing. Why did he come here? She doesn't want him here. He couldn't bring himself to move though. Then, as he was just about to just turn around and leave, he felt warm arms around him suddenly. Surprisingly, he didn't feel like pulling away, he embraced the gesture of comfort.

"You up for some hot chocolate? I got the tiny marshmallows you like." He saw her smile at him. He felt himself being led to the sofa. As soon as he sat down, he had a hot chocolate in his hands.

"What do you want to talk about?" Spencer's thoughts came to a halt. What did he want to talk about? He just wanted sleep, peaceful sleep. But he shouldn't just go off and start talking about his nightmares, how should he approach this? Oh man, he wished he just understood social interaction. Maybe if he just went through his day, that's what normal people talk about, they describe their day, or in his case the past week. He took a breath and some hot chocolate.

"I have been swamped with paperwork, I can't wait to get out of the office, did you know that there are about 30 serial killers active in the USA? Have I told you about the difference between an organized killer and disorganized well-. "

"Spencer!" He looked up instantly, he knew it, she didn't want to listen to this? Who would? No one wanted to know details about terrible people killing other people? What was he doing here? He should just leave. A quiet sigh brought his attention back to the room.

"So, what have you been eating?" Spencer mind halted for the second time tonight. What had he been eating? He had… did he have something?

"What have I been eating? Umm, I had eggs for breakfast, coffee, a hot dog and I had a cinnamon roll." He hadn't had anything but coffee and pretzels for most of that week, so he thought he was doing better, but now that he listed it out, it was still kinda pitiful.

"Just that for all of today?"

"For yesterday and today." He winced gently as he said it. Fearing judgment, he looked up. Instead of disappointment, he was shocked to see a look in her eye that said a bet was coming.

"Well, gambling man, we are going to have a proper- "She turned to look at the clock, "10'o' clock dinner." Standing up, she pulled his hand. Looking at her eyes, he saw that she wasn't upset, her eyes gleamed playfully. "Come on, gambling man, you know how to cook right, or is that 187 IQ a lie?" If she wanted a competition, well, he would give her a competition.

"Of course, I know how to cook." Wait a second, did he know how to cook? It's all simple chemistry, it can't be that hard.

"Well let's make a bet gambling man, if you can make a dinner better than me, we can watch _star trek_ , if I make a better dinner, we have a _Disney_ marathon, deal?" He smiled, this time he would win. He brought up his hand, offering it.

"Shake on it?" Elizabeth smiled, but he could tell that she was shocked. For a second, he thought that maybe she wasn't going to shake, and immediately started to drop his hand. Her tiny hand with pink and green nails reached out and caught his, and shook. He stared in daze again, but for an entirely different reason. He voluntarily shook someone's hand.

* * *

To be fair, while he lost the cook off, he did win the stay-up-the-latest award, it was 2am and Elizabeth had fallen asleep a half an hour earlier. Looking over at Elizabeth, he had a rare moment of peace. The gentle sound of her breathing and the cozy warm blanket were too powerful to ignore, and he knew sleep would come soon. He was content though, and maybe, just maybe, the nightmare wouldn't come tonight.

As Alice woke up to discover it all was just a dream in the movie, he felt his eyes drop and get heavy. He was entering the world of dreams. The last thing he noticed was the faint scent of clove and green tea, with a hint of something else that he couldn't place. He tried placing it but just as he thought he had it, he was embraced by the world of darkness he had feared for so long.

* * *

The light streamed into her apartment, and Elizabeth squeezed her eyes. It was too bright and early. She grabbed the blanket and tried to cover her face. The blanket wouldn't move. She pulled harder.

"Hey!" The blanket pulled back. What? Her confusion pulled her from sleep. Blinking rapidly, she looked to the other end of the sofa, where she saw Spencer, eyebrows furrowed and mouth frowning in distaste to the sunlight. Turning, she saw his legs, too long, had fallen off the side of the sofa. This means he ended up sleeping in a weird diagonal u shape. his neck and back were going to be killing him.

"Spencer." She whispered. His eyes slowly opened, squinting against the sun, he looked confused for a second, till he realized where he was. He laid his head back down on the arm of the sofa.

"You feeling better?" He looked better at least, the circles under his eyes had lessen a bit.

"Yeah, I didn't have a nightmare this time." He said offhandedly, he wasn't fully awake yet it seems, she knew he wouldn't have told her otherwise. She pursed her lips.

"You've been having nightmares?" His eyes opened fully now, looking like he just betrayed a secret about the pentagon. He didn't say anything. "Look Spencer, you love your job, you do so much good, but in order to continue that good you need to keep yourself in better shape." She paused, considering if she should continue. While she could be there for him, she couldn't completely understand. He had to deal with the depravity of humanity every day. The worst thing she's seen was a kindergarten class all vomiting. On the display. That she had just finished. Anyway, she had to tell him that she couldn't always help him, but there were people that could. "Maybe… maybe you should ask your coworkers, they've been at this longer, I'm sure they have similar problems." He didn't respond. He was either still afraid of her reaction or he was still tired.

"Well now, to business, I'll make some breakfast, and you…" Looking at Spencer's rumpled dress shirt and sweater, "Need some new clothes, I have some of my brother Luke's clothes that he left here by accident, I washed them, but he might be a bit more… broad then you, but I think the height will be fine." The talk of clothes and a new day seemed waken him a bit, as he swung his body around to get out of that awkward U shape. Stretching his arms and legs, cracks could be heard throughout his body. She scrunched her nose.

"Geez, you sound like bubble wrap." He laughed a little as he moved his neck, and then proceeded to show off his knowledge of everything.

"You know, Bubble Wrap was originally called Air Cap. It was created in 1957 by engineers Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes, who first marketed the material as textured wallpaper. When that failed, they attempted to sell it as greenhouse insulation. But it wasn't until IBM needed something to protect the shipments of their new 1401 Data Processing System in 1960 that the material really began to take off. " Happy that he was starting to sound like himself, she replied,

"And did you know the makers of Bubble Wrap conducted a survey and respondents said that just over one minute of popping bubbles provides the stress relief equivalent to a 33-minute massage. Maybe I should get you some bubble wrap for your job." She said with a smile. "The clothes are in that trunk by the coffee table, you want eggs or french toast?"

"French toast" Spencer got up and retrieved his new set of clothes. "Where's the bathroom?"

"Just past the entrance on the left!" She yelled from the kitchen, as she proceeded to get out her ingredients. She heard the door shut. Singing, she made her way about the kitchen, she was so absorbed in her work that she didn't hear Spencer come in. He stared at her, announcing his presence in the only way Spencer could, with knowledge. "you know one of the theories about why we sing is that music binds groups of people together. The resulting solidarity, its supporters suggest, might have helped bands of early humans to thrive at the expense of those that were less musical." She jumped up for a second at the sudden voice and smell, then smiled.

"And one of the other theories is that music is one of the foods of love. The more mellifluous the singer, the more dexterous the harpist, the more mates they attract, interesting right?" She looked back then, and burst out laughing

"What?" Spencer looked down at what he was wearing, the sweatshirt he was wearing was baggy when her brother wore it, on him, it was like a blanket of him, underneath he wore ripped up jeans that that seemed to stop a bit short of his ankles, with his typical dress shoes tying the whole mess together. At least it was a washed mess.

"They won't be angry about the whole casual vibe?" She looked up and down at the whole piece of fashion standing in her kitchen.

He looked up. "Nah, I have a go bag there so I can change later." She shrugged.

"Okay, if you sure." She turned back as she put the toast on the pan. Offhandedly she mentioned "If you want, I'm doing some work at the marine corps museum as a program organizer, I could drive you?" She turned back, trying to read his face. He seemed to considerate it.

"How did you even get here?" She asked, now realizing he didn't seem to have keys on him or anything.

"Umm, I took the bus and subway and then walked, I didn't think it was a good idea for me to drive."

"Bro, my apartment is like, a mile from the nearest subway stop."

"Bro? and it's 1.2 miles."

"Sorry, I tend to refer to friends as 'bro', maybe because in high school pretty much my only friends where my two older brothers." She pursed her lips and brought the spatula to her mouth "Huh, never thought about that." She shook her head, "Anyway, that decides it, I'll drive us to Quantico, now eat up!"

* * *

 _Okay I have a confession to make. This takes place during 2005, knowing that, the facts about bubble wrap being relaxing was discovered until 2012. Please forgive my little mess up of the time continuum, I just felt the need to have a little PSA in here too ? I hope to have a chapter up tomorrow, maybe one more, but after that I am going to have to slow down on the updates._


	6. Need some Advice with Some Sugar?

She followed him all the way up to the office. He could feel people's eyes on him, questioning. It didn't help how he was dressed, he looked like a hooligan.

"You don't need to come all the way up." He mentioned, shifting a bit in the elevator.

"Sure, I do! I want to see the Batcave where you guys carry out all your crime fighting!" She seemed to be really excited, rocking on the balls of her feet. He felt conflicted. He was happy she was so interested in his work, but once Morgan or Elle see him, the torture will begin. Plus, he already was preparing himself to ask Morgan about nightmare, he didn't want them having more things to make fun of him of, yet he was still grateful to her for being there. He was excited too! He couldn't wait for Elizabeth to see his office and see his work. He felt better, but have 5 hours of peaceful didn't replace the 40 hours of unpeaceful sleep so he was already needed some more coffee. When the elevator opened, he was relieved and disappointed to find he was there before Elle and Morgan.

"Wow, cool, I never been in an FBI office, looks sweet." She said, nodding as she looked around.

"Here one the main level is where all most of the profilers' desks are, mine" pointing at one desk and walking over, Elizabeth followed him, "is this one. There is also Hotch, our team leader," pointing to one of the offices on the ramp, "and over there is JJ's office, she picks our cases and handles the press, and that one is Gideon's office." He said with a smile. It was fun to talk about something he loved to someone who cared and didn't need to. He was about to add more when a beep sound came from Elizabeth's phone. He turned back to her.

"Well," As she looked at the time on her phone, "This is where I must say goodbye, I would love a full tour next time, but I got to bolt, sorry!" Just as she was about to step back in the elevator, she backed out and ran back to him. "oh! Almost forgot, here" She pulled out a paper bag, "leftovers, make sure to eat them at an appropriate time, and don't eat too much sugar, its bad for you!" She gave him the paper bag and just as quickly, ran back to the entrance and disappeared as the elevator door closed.

Spencer stood there for a moment. He was… surprised at the sudden departure. He wondered if this is what she felt like when he left suddenly too. Eventually, he started moving, setting his lunch down on his desk, he moved to go get coffee before he changed clothes. He was almost done putting an appropriate amount of sugar when Morgan appeared.

"Easy there tough guy, have some coffee with your sugar." Morgan said with a smile, sliding over to the other side of the counter.

"I need something to wake me up." He wanted to be out of there and out of these clothes as fast as possible. He didn't need any more humiliation when he told him about his dreams.

"ooh, late night?" He wiggled his eyebrows as he looked Spencer up and down, what was he insinuating?

"Very." Spencer merrily replied offhand.

"My man!" Oh! that's what his insinuating.

"Not that kind of late night" Morgan just chuckled in response.

"Ok so tell me, what does keep young Dr. Reid awake at night so much that he dresses his age? Wait, let me guess, memorizing some obscure text book no no no no, working on cold fusion. No, I got it. I got it, watching star trek…. And laughing at the physics mistakes." Morgan's eyes twinkled with a wry smile on his face. Spencer just shook his head, taking a sip of his coffee, he replied,

"There aren't that many scientific errors in star trek, especially considering how long ago it was made, there are certain improbabilities," Spencer paused swirling his coffee with the stirrer "but not that many outright errors." Looking up he saw Morgan staring at him with disbelief. Morgan unsure of how to reply just said;

"Right" He says is he pats his shoulder, heading to his desk

"Hey! Morgan!" Morgan stopped and turned around.

"Umm these aren't my clothes, I don't own anything this… casual." Spencer though that this might help his case about his nightmare, that he came dressed in like this, that or he was a wimp. "I borrowed a friend's brother's clothes, I didn't want to come wearing rumpled clothes I slept in ."

"So, what? You boys have a boys' geek night? You should know not to stay up late on a school night." Morgan teased, but there was some curiosity there too, looking for more information about his friend.

"No, _she_ and I had a surprise Disney night, I lost a bet, anyway she said you might have some insight into...uh... dreams."

"I'm sorry?" Morgan looked dazed and lost at the mention of him having a female friend and the sudden transition to a more personal issue.

"I guess nightmare would be a more accurate description "

"I'm still processing the fact that you have a friend who is of the opposite sex, hold on, that's what's why you've been loading your coffee with sugar, cause of these nightmare?"

"I used to get them occasionally but lately it's like I have them ever night." Morgan considered what he was saying, focusing on the nightmare issue, for now. Spencer knew it wouldn't be the last about him have a friend outside of work.

"What they about?" Morgan was genuine concerned, or interested, Spencer couldn't decide which.

"This, what we do." Spencer paused for a moment, contemplating the question he was about to ask. "Do you have nightmares?

"Reid I'm not sure If I'm the right person for you to talk to about this."

"Why not?"

"It's just, uh… Did you ask Gideon about it?"

"No"

"You should." Morgan look serious, so much so that Spencer started to consider telling his mentor. But then he thought about how much he had fought for this position because of his age. No, he needed to be strong.

"Hey, Hotch wants everyone in the round table room." Elle walked to the door, waiting for them to follow her. When they didn't she looked at them, "Something up with you two?"

"No" Spencer responded quickly, he didn't need his whole unit thinking he was a baby. He brushed past Elle, walking to the round table. Forgetting to change into a new pair of clothes and missing a look exchanged by his two colleagues.

* * *

Flying back to Quantico

Spencer reached down tiredly into his bag, looking for his cards. In response, something crinkled. The bagged lunch. He hadn't eaten it yet. Pulling it out he opening it, inside, surrounded by four ice packs, was some fruit and mac n cheese. Tucked in on the side was a piece of paper.

 _I know you are probably not opening this during lunch, it's probably night by the time you remember to eat again; so I guess you'll just have to do with cold mac n cheese. It should still be good as long as it's not the next day. Enjoy!_

Spencer smiled as he dug in and open the case of fruit.

"Who is she?" Spencer's eyes darted up. Gideon was sitting in the seat across, waiting for a response.

"Huh?"

"Who is she, the one that made the lunch?" He asked, innocent curiosity written on his face.

"A friend." Spencer popping a piece of melon into his mouth.

"Pretty nice friend." Gideon said, watching Spencer's reaction

"Yeah, she is." Spencer paused and stopped to admire the note. Gideon smiled at his young student, and then pulled out his wallet. Inside was a picture of a smiling family.

"Deborah louis Addison, her husband Tim, the kids are Amber and Keith, 8 and 6. In 1985, Deborah Louise was walking home from school. She was abducted. She was 13. We profiled the unsub and we were able to locate her before he harmed her Shew writes a letter to the BAU every year. She updates us on her life." He smiled at the picture, but Spencer just shook his head.

"It's nice but- "Gideon interrupted him.

"We all have bad dreams. Everyone on the plane. Who wouldn't? We hunt the worst of humanity, we see the depths of depravity, we dream of monsters." Gideon said in such a normal logical way, Spencer almost felt embarrassed about his embarrassment. He felt like this was the time, he had to tell someone what his nightmare was about, what happened every time he closed his eyes.

"In my dream, in the most recent version, Elizabeth, my friend, she's in the middle of a circle and there is someone, on the other side and I can't get to her before—" Gideon interrupted again.

"Every night I look at Deborah, helps me, helps me to go to sleep thinking of all the victims we've saved." He admired the photo with tired eyes.

"We don't always beat the monsters to the victims, but we do enough to make the job worth it. Keep the nightmares bearable." Gideon stared at the photo, then offered it to Spencer. "Your friend, cherish the moments you have with her, to be your age, don't let them go to waste." Spencer stared at the happy faces than at the lunch on his lap, a weak smiled pulled at his lips and he closed his weary eyes for a second, with thoughts about his colleagues, the people he has saved, and the new friend he managed to make who thinks his voice smells like sandalwood. For the second time in two weeks, he felt at peace.

* * *

 _Well I got one more chapter, it probably will be posted tonight or tomorrow then I'm hopping to have a regular one chapter per week posting. It might be a bit wonky next week with thanksgiving but I hope you'll bear with me. Thanks for reading!_


	7. Saviors Come in Many Forms

The last thing she thought when she took this job was becoming a part of an FBI investigation. She was just doing some simple work as a substitute teacher for a couple weeks, as one of the English teachers decided that she just needed to try to get the cat out of the tree by herself. When she informed Spencer that she would be in Delaware, he had just returned from Massachusetts and was swamped in paper work. She had been there for only three weeks when one of her students, Billie, went missing. She wasn't alarmed, her father often pulled her out of class, especially since Billie's dog died two weeks prior. Her mother was nice, reminded her of her Dad a bit, he coached too. She had talked occasionally to Mrs. Copeland, but they didn't know each other that well. She just went about doing her typical after school tutoring. That was all, until she found out the father didn't have her. Cops and police swarmed the neighborhood, and before she knew it, the BAU was on their way here. She knew the statistics, she remembered reading one of Reid's book at his insistence. The colors were so dark and grey, depressing like the subject matter. She eventually just told him if he really wanted her to know this, he should just read it to her. It had been 20 hours since Billie was last seen. She could practically hear his speech and the smell of sandalwood in her mind;

 _"Long term stranger abductions of Billie's age are rare, they represent only half of one percent of all missing cases a year, but they are usually less likely to be fatal to the children that are abducted and murdered, 44% die with the first hour, from that point forth their odds of survival greatly decrease. 75% are gone after 3 hours, virtually all of them are dead after 24 hours."_

Typically, she would just hear about these things and move on. What could she do, this was the law enforcements' job? But Spencer's speech echoed in her mind. He was saving people all the time, maybe this was her time to try to do some good. She had a background in psychology, it was with children, but maybe she could still be of use as a counselor? She still didn't know what she could do, but within 10 minutes of finding out Billie was missing, she found herself at the door of Mrs. Copeland. She raised her arm to knock, hesitated. Why would Mrs. Copeland want her around? Then she thought about how Mrs. Copeland had no near family, just an estranged ex-husband and a missing child. She put her doubts out of her mind and knocked. The echoing noise seemed too loud, it triggered a sharp smell of metallic and smoking wood in her mind. Then, Mrs. Copeland answered, her eyes puffy with a perpetual river of tears streaming down her face, and she knew she made the right choice.

"Mrs. Copeland, it's me, Dr. Stocker, I don't know if yo- "Before she finished reintroducing herself, Mrs. Copeland launched herself into her arms sobbing. Elizabeth slowly put her arms around her, patting her back. The sound of tire screeching hit her as a disgusting mix of tapioca and fish. A news truck speed down the street, parking, reporters and camera men rushed out. "Okay! Mrs. Copeland? we should go inside." Opening the door with one arm, she gently guided the sobbing woman into her home, quickly shutting the door in the face of the reporters. She shuffled her way over to the couch, seating down with Mrs. Copeland, she just hugged her as she cried. They sat there for 5 minutes. Mrs. Copeland started to calm down. Pulling apart she looked at the mother;

"Do you have any tea?" She nodded in response. It looked like she was still unable to talk. Leaving Mrs. Copeland on the couch, Elizabeth fast walked into the kitchen pulling out a kettle and water, she managed to find some jasmine tea in the cupboard. She has to say she made that tea in record time. Walking backed into the living room carrying two cups of tea, she looked up to see the reporters snapping pictures through the window. Elizabeth's face turned stony, as she gently set the tea down and briskly walked over to the window, drawing the curtain aggressively as she glared at the reporter. Turning back, she saw Mrs. Copeland seemed to have calmed down. Now just staring at the floor. "Here, drink this." She offered the hot drink. Mrs. Copeland's eyes snapped back to reality, glancing from the drink to Elizabeth in confusion.

"I'm Dr. Stocker, Billie's English teacher, we talked a couple times at the games and during a teacher conference." She offered a gentle smiled and in return she got a small curl on the edges of Mrs. Copeland's lips,

"Ahh, yes, sorry about the mess, I just, she's gone and the last thing I said, I…" Mrs. Copeland seemed to start having trouble breathing, she was going to have a panic attack.

"Mrs. Copeland! Mrs. Copeland, listen to my breathing, listen to me." Elizabeth took deep breaths, and moved the tea to the table to focus on the mother she was trying calm down. She seemed to return to normal after a couple minutes.

"Here drink this." She handed her the drink, Mrs. Copeland sipped it slowly. "Now, I heard the FBI is sending their best, they'll be here within the hour, the police are already going door to door and have set of a tip-line and…" She took the remote and turned on the T.V, immediately a picture of Billie and information of what she was wearing was being announced, "The news is already on top of it."

She was really glad that Spencer liked work so much, as because of it, they went to a FBI lecture on police procedures for child abduction case. However, the lecturer had the most boring voice ever, smelling of dust and the slight scent of mud. Seeing her boredom, what ended up happening was Spencer and she sat in the back as Spencer just went over all the procedures. That, and Spencer couldn't resist himself when it came to talking about work.

She stayed there, comforting a woman she barely knew, retelling her that Billie was a smart girl and the police knew what they were doing. Detective Russet stopped by with some police offers to ask a couple more questions then made her exit, telling them that the FBI was sending profilers and they would be here within a half an hour. She hoped it was Spencer's team, it would be nice to seem him again. Elizabeth kicked herself mentally for the selfish thought, a child was missing. For the next half hour, Elizabeth tried to keep Mrs. Copeland hopeful and competent. She would have to answer questions with the profilers soon and they would be more detailed oriented, it would not help if she was in a middle of a panic attack.

* * *

It was very anti-climactic when she meets Agent Gideon and Agent Greenaway. When she heard Spencer talk about them, she always thought about doors getting kicked down and a smug looks as they won this human game of chess. In reality, there was a quite knock on the door, and Elizabeth had to momentarily leave Mrs. Copeland. She first looked through the peephole, making sure it wasn't reporters. She saw a mild aged man and a young woman standing on the porch, quietly waiting as the woman flashed her badge saying FBI. She opened the door.

"Hello, is Mrs. Copeland here? I'm agent Greenaway and this is Agent Gideon, we're from the FBI." The young woman put her badge. "Could we come in and ask some questions?" The smell of coconut, mango, and ocean filled her senses as Agent Greenaway talked. Opening the door wide she replied, "Mrs. Copeland's in the living room, I'm ." Shea was a bit disappointed when they didn't recognize the name, but through it out of her mind. Spencer was a private person. The two agents stepped inside, she quickly closed the door after them.

"If you don't mind me asking, how do you know the Copelands?" Agent Gideon asked. The smell of chicken broth and campfire washed over her at the sound of his voice, she understood why he was a teacher.

"Oh, I am working as a substitute teacher at Billie's school, when I heard the news, I felt that Mrs. Copeland should have someone around." She said innocently, leading them to the living room. She felt that they had more questions about her being a 'doctor' but she should probably leave her introduction there for now, they needed to focus on the case and even a short conversation about how she already knew them was not worth risking Billie's life. She would tell them afterwards, and maybe even get to see how to her friend was. Agent Greenaway seemed to be a bit shocked at her simplified explanation of why she was there, but Agent Gideon just smiled. They then entered the living room and shifted their focus to the reason why they were here.

"Mrs. Copeland, may I look around at your daughter's room?" Agent Gideon asked. Mrs. Copeland just nodded.

"Ah, It should be the second door down the hallway upstairs." Elizabeth called after turning around she saw Gideon already on his way upstairs. Agent Greenaway sat down next to Mrs. Copeland. Elizabeth just stood to the side, not really sure what she should do. Right then, the T.V segment about Billie played again, Detective Russet asking for the public's help. This was the seventh time they've seen it and Mrs. Copeland seemed to have gotten tired hearing about it as she turned the T.V off.

"They've been running that over and over again for the past 2 hours. The press wants to talk to me. Ms.-I mean Dr. Stocker has kept them at bay. I just- I don't think I can face it. " Mrs. Copeland stared at her hands.

"Why don't you just tell me what happened?" Agent Greenaway ask, with true concern and comfort on her face.

"Um… I was focused on practice and… Billie was… being a pain, as usual, she was giving me attitude. So I told her to run it off. I sent her away." Agent Greenaway put a comforting hand on her, speaking gently.

"How long have you been divorced?"

"Um.. its been final for six months, but we haven't lived together in over a year." Gideon steps into the doorway.

"You seeing anyone?" Greenaway asks.

Mrs. Copeland laughs in response, "Between work and Billie when would I have the time?"

Greenaway seemed surprise at this answer, and pushed for more information. "Not one date? Any men coming over to the house?"

"I had a few causal dates after work, but they never came to the house. Billie still hopes that her father and I will get back together." It was after this that Gideon makes his presence known to the women.

"How did Billie's dog die Mrs. Copeland?"

"uh…It was hit by a car, two weeks ago. How did you know that?" Sadness suspended, she innocent curiosity was all that was heard in her voice.

"Shrine in the room." Mrs. Copeland looked down, everything seemed to hit her again.

"Helps her grieve?" Gideon asked.

"Her father did that for her." Mrs. Copeland sounded bitter and thankful at the same time.

"They get along well?"

"Best of friends. She calls him every night, tells him about her day, asks about his. He's a cancer survivor so he takes time off from work, pulls her out of school for father/daughter field trips. Says we all need to stop and enjoy life, but he forgets that he has responsibilities, that they both do. Which makes me the bad guy." Her lips started to quiver again, and Elizabeth feared that she would breakdown again. "She blames me, for the divorce. blames me for everything. I should have just let her go with her father. I'm sorry." Mrs. Copeland breathed deeply and got up from the couch and walked to the kitchen for a breath. Elizabeth followed her, but slowly enough to her the two agents comment.

"She's pretty fragile."

"The last thing she did was fight with her daughter. Can you imagine what that feels like?" The smell of tapioca and fish hit Elizabeth again as the sound of brakes screeching out front. She turned back to see Agent Gideon peeked out the curtains.

"Mr. Copeland is here."

* * *

Longer chapter, hope it makes up for the wait! I am hoping to get this episode done in two more chapter. I am still unsure of what day will be the regular updates due to this week being a bit wonky, but I'll tell you guys as soon as I know. Thanks for reading!


	8. The Smartest man I have ever meet

_Sorry for the first upload! I use the copy and past method from word and forget to clear the format! Anyways enjoy!_

* * *

Elizabeth stopped consoling Mrs. Copeland for a minute before Mrs. Copeland bolted to the entrance when she heard her ex-husband's voice. Now, Elizabeth sat down with Agent Greenaway in the dining room, as Mr. and Mrs. Copeland argued in the doorway.

"I've been calling you all night!"

"I'm sorry Marilyn, I turned my phone off." Elizabeth was hit with the smell of gasoline and grass from Mr. Copeland's voice.

"How could you turn your phone off!? What if Billie got sick or –" Mrs. Copeland held her hand over her mouth, in disgust or anger Elizabeth couldn't tell. "We **needed** you **.** "

"I said I was sorry." Mr. Copeland reached for her, but Mrs. Copeland brushed his arm off and stormed away. Elizabeth felt the awkwardness of the situation seep into the air. She wasn't entirely sure why she was still there, she didn't feel like she should leave yet, but she wasn't entirely sure what she could do while she was here. So, she made the quick choice to follow Mrs. Copeland leaving the Agents to the interrogation. She found her sitting down at the kitchen table, silently crying. Elizabeth approached, pulling out a chair, she placed her hand on Mrs. Copeland's arm, gently squeezing. Mrs. Copeland turned to her. They sat there for a moment in silence as Mrs. Copeland calmed down.

"Dr. Stocker, thank you." Mrs. Copeland's hand grasped hers. "No one else, no neighbors or other moms came over. only you, thank you."

"I was in the area when I heard the news, that's all, and its okay of your call me Ms." She said with a smile. She nodded in return.

"Do you think they'll find her?" Mrs. Copeland asked, with a certain calmness that Elizabeth hadn't seen from her all evening. When she looked at her hand though, it trembled as she sipped her tea.

"This may come as a surprised, but I know this team, I'm friends with one of them, and he's the smartest man I have ever meet, and this team, from what he's told me, they won't rest until they find her." She answered her with a certainty that surprised even herself. It seemed to help Mrs. Copeland though, as her hand stopped shaking, and while her other still gripped her hand tightly. She had just given her hope. Is this what Spencer helped to do every time he went out on a case? Bringing hope to those who have doubts? It sounded cliché, but she understood a bit more about why he took a job that had him having to think like the worst of humanity. She sat with , in the next room she heard Mr. Copeland break down crying, begging for someone to find his daughter. She heard Gideon make a call and then leave. Eventually Mr. Copeland came in along with Agent Greenaway. Giving up her seat to Mr. Copeland, she let them be with each other for a bit.

She went over and stood in the entrance way by Agent Greenaway. Giving the divorced couple some room to feed of off the others' hope and chase away their worries.

"So, you're a doctor? You pretty young to have gone through med school." Greenaway mentioned casually, trying to find something to talk about.

"Not that kind of Doctor, just 2 PhDs and a couple other degrees," she smiled. They stood there, awkward silence filling the air as Elizabeth grasped for something to talk about. She wanted Spencer's team to like her, they were his friends too. Wait, maybe she could make conversation with that? Man, why was it this hard to make conversation? It is never like this with Spencer.

"Actually, I kinda already know you, and the team, I'm friends with one of you coworkers, Dr. Reid?"

Agent Greenaway looked like if she had been drinking, she would've just spewed it all out.

"I'm sorry, but are you sure your thinking of the right person?"

"Yeah, Spencer talks about you guys all the time.

"Spencer?"

"Yeah, he loves working with you guys, says you're the first group who's not judged him on his age, other than the occasional prank."

"How did you guys meet? You're just substitute teacher in Delaware." Greenaway turned to look at her puzzled, though it sounded a bit accusatory, Elizabeth could tell Greenaway was just shocked still.

"Yeah, I like to move around, I have problem with getting bored easy, I don't really like permanent jobs, it gets too boring, but I have an apartment in DC and do a lot of work in that area." Elizabeth replied

"He's doing fine, I'm sorry, what's your name again?"

"Dr. Stocker, Elizabeth Stocker." She turned, smile on her face, and held out her hand to the female agent. "Nice to finally be able to meet you Agent Greenaway." The agent returned her smile, reaching out to shake her hand.

"Nice to meet you too, Dr. Stocker. If you don't mind me asking, are you like Reid?"

"Like Reid how?"

"You know, child prodigy, read super-fast, high IQ, eidetic memory."

"Oh no, well, I guess I was a child prodigy in that I graduated high school when I was 13, but I don't have the level of his ability to memorize, although I have my own tricks." Her smiled widened

"So far, in terms of reading I'm beating him 3-2, although he says I cheat." She stared off, remembering her victories, the adorable look on Spencer's face when she did.

"Um… Dr. Stocker?" Agent Greenaway interrupted her flashback

"Oh right sorry Agent! Where was I?" Elizabeth snapped back, a blush quickly spreading on her checks.

"You beat Reid in reading?"

"Yep! I'm a bit slower than him, but I can make up for it." Lowering her voice, she whispered her secret to Agent Greenaway, a tongue touched smile appeared on her face.

"If you haven't notice, he's very easily distracted, when the right subject is brought up." Agent Greenaway stared at this young woman, who just so happened to be best friends with one of her coworkers, a friend who she though had so much difficulty socializing he couldn't make friends outside of people who were required to always be around him.

"huh, never thought Reid could socialize outside work." Greenaway said, mostly to herself, not really realizing she said it out loud.

"Yeah, his is awkward, I'm a bit awkward sometimes, but I got lucky, I had siblings, he hardly ever got to hang out with kids his age, makes a difference you know?" Elizabeth kept her lighten hardened tone, but Agent Greenaway was trained to watch people's body language, she noticed Elizabeth's posture straightened, smile tighten, and eyes on guard. She thought she was attacking her friend. Before she could correct the young women's assumption, Greenaway's phone rang. Looking down, she read Gideon's number.

"Oh sorry got to take this." Backing away from Elizabeth, Greenaway turned around. Elizabeth turned her attention back to the Copeland's. They seemed better. They could resonate and understand each other's pain and worries in a way Elizabeth recognized she couldn't and wouldn't be able to unless she had a child. Greenaway came back.

"I have to go down to the station, we have a profile to deliver, look, I wouldn't ask this if I felt that they wouldn't do something…" As she gestures to the Copeland's "extreme. Do you think you would be willing to stay here and watch them?" Greenaway asked, fiddling with her mobile.

"Sure." Elizabeth replied. And immediately regretted it. She felt awkward and intrusive here, but before she could say anything, Greenaway was out the door, with an echoing quick thank you, leaving her to watch as two acquaintances as they deal with the unknown fate of their daughter.

Turns out, the parents really just needed a shoulder to cry on and with each other now here, Elizabeth went about making sure tea was available and with 's permission made some snack as she imagined both parents did not feel like eating a full meal right now, but probably also haven't been eating due to the stress and worry. After that was all taken care of, she just sat in the next room, trying to give them space but also bored out of her mind. The only thing of note was the disappearance of police on the street. Luckily, agent Greenaway returned shortly after she started counting the threads in the carpet. The smell of mango ocean and coconut was soothing and washed over her as she answered the door.

"Hey, how are they doing?"

"Fine as any parents who are missing their child." Opening the door to let Greenaway in, she only got a grim nod in response to her statement as she came in.

"So, how the search going, got a profile?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yeah, now I have to inform the Copeland's" she sighed " I hate these types of cases." Greenaway looks haggard and Elizabeth felt like she was seeing the real person who does all this heroic work at the cost of many sleepless nights, she gets why Reid admires his coworkers.

"Your telling me, I work with children half the time, these type of thing are.."

"Evil." Greenaway ends her sentence for her.

"I guess that's a way to put it."

"Yeah, the job never ends, but what job truly does?" Greenaway seems to get a second wind for that statement as she stands straighter and stronger."Alright enough stalling, let's talk to mom and dad." She said with a strained smile as she entered the next room. As soon as they entered they were meet with shakily taking his meds out as well as accusations.

"You took all the police off the street?" Mrs. Copeland entered back into the room with a glass of water.

"We believe your daughter was abducted by someone in the area and that she's probably still nearby."

"Then shouldn't you be flooding the area with cops, knocking on doors?"

"It's not that simple."

"Yes, it is" Elizabeth couldn't believe how rude Mr. Copeland was being. Phycology, the human mind, simple? Who thought that? She was about to do some explaining, but Mrs. Copeland interrupted;

"Your taking the meds again." Disregarding his ex-wife's comment continued to be rather a rudely lively of skeptical to Agent Greenaway and how she does her job.

"Look…what exactly are you people doing to help get my daughter back?" If was not currently grieving about his missing child as well as the fact that he clearly has cancer, judging by the type of medicine he was taking, She would have schooled him. But he was, so Elizabeth maintained silence as Agent Greenaway handled Mr. Copeland as civilly as possible.

"You're sick again, aren't you?" The question was not really a question, even Mrs. Copeland knew it.

"We want you to meet with the press, both of you." She winced, maybe Agent Greenaway could have explained the situation a bit better to the parents because a press conferences sounds weak, even to her who knows a bit of this stuff through her studies in child psychology and contact with Spencer.

"Press conference. That's what you have? You just said you're already taking the press that's running off the air"

"I know. But this will be different. Trust us, Mr. Copeland." Before Mr. Copeland could reply with another snark comment the doorbell rang, Elizabeth made a move to the door, but Mr. Copeland beat her saying,

"I'll get it." She figured he probably wanted to avoid his ex-wife's prying questions for a bit longer, so she let him go. "Just tell Marilyn what you need us to do." He said as he walked away.

"That was his second remission."

"I'm sorry."

"Billie won't even talk to me anymore. How am I gonna tell her that her father's sick again?"

"One thing at a time, . Once we find your daughter, you'll figure it out" Now that was some sound advice Elizabeth thought before she heard the sound of yelling coming from outside. Turning to peek out the window, Elizabeth noticed a woman handing a piece a paper to . A solicitor? Why would they come to this house of all time? Going out to the door she hears the woman say,

"Mr. Copeland, I'm Helen Godfrey from a few blocks away" The woman's voice triggered the weirdest smell mix of ginger and peanut butter, not disgusting smelling but defiantly strange and overpowering." I have printout on all the sex offenders in the area. I think if you just look at any of these..." Oh no. Running to the door she sees Mr. Copeland run and hop into his truck.

" ! Please stop!" Running outside, there is no response from the distraught father, only a man that wishes to protect his daughter and now has a target for all his anger. Turning to the woman, Elizabeth is surprise by the amount of anger coursing through her. The smell of tapioca and fish offend her senses as tire squeak. She hears Agent Greenaway run out also yelling for Copeland to stop. The woman names Mrs. Godfrey meets Elizabeth's glare with smug pride of someone who thinks they did the right thing.

"There are sex offenders in the area. I thought he should know."

Agent Greenaway responses with just "Stupid." And flips her phone to inform her coworkers. However, Elizabeth responds much more furiously

"And why do you think he should know this information right now? So, he can possible go kill a person that may or may not be innocent?"

"They are sex offenders..."

"Look here, there are a lot of ways to get on that list, and many of them have nothing to do with Children!" And with that Elizabeth marched back into the house with all the self-control she had. Glad that the children she works with aren't arrogant as adults. She can't imagine how draining it would be with people like .

"Come on." Greenaway said, "We got to head to the station now." Sighing Elizabeth nodded, as they both went to tell what happen. Elizabeth only hoped that Spencer wasn't planning on doing any tackling and that his other coworkers would be able to get to Mr. Copeland in time.

* * *

 _Thank you for your patience! Another chapter should be coming shortly hopefully XD_


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